Ninian Park old boy Robert Earnshaw has no doubt he'll receive the warmest of welcomes when he returns to his old stomping ground on Saturday.

And the popular Bluebirds legend, now playing for Championship rivals Norwich City, intends to show his respect for Cardiff City's fans by doing the 'Ayatollah' - if the opportunity presents itself.

Welsh international striker Earnie is due to make his first competitive appearance in Cardiff since he joined Premiership outfit West Bromwich Albion in August 2004.

His time at the Hawthorns was not the happiest experience of his career, prompting his #3m switch to the Canaries during the January transfer window.

Since then he feels he has turned a corner through playing regularly again and is excited about Saturday's encounter with his old club.

'It is one of those fixtures that you look for straight away when you sign for another club and to be honest I'm really looking forward to the game,' said Earnshaw.

'I've been back to Ninian Park twice since I left, for a pre-season friendly with West Bromwich Albion and then for Andy Legg's testimonial and on both occasions the supporters were brilliant and I'd be surprised if it was anything different.'

'Of course I will, I just hope that Norwich's supporters understand that I came through the youth ranks at Cardiff, spent several years there and it's where I learnt my trade.

'And I hope that the City supporters realise that although I will do the Ayatollah, I have to concentrate on trying to win the game for Norwich.'

All of this comes on the back of Earnie's unhappy stint at West Brom, where, despite being the Baggies' top scorer last season during his first term in the Premiership, he found his face simply didn't fit in with manager Bryan Robson's plans.

But the ever upbeat Earnshaw still insists he enjoyed his experience at the Hawthorns and, while accepting certain issues could have been better handled, he has no regrets.

'It was never a disaster for me at West Brom, no matter what people might think because I learnt so much and it was a priceless experience for me.

'But I don't want to go into too much detail about my time at West Brom, all I know is that I was scoring goals for them and I'm still scoring goals now.'

And Earnshaw is confident that he will return to the Premiership with Norwich, a club he believes will be one of the main promotion contenders during next season's Coca Cola Championship.

'I joined Norwich for one reason - they want Premiership football as much as I do,' he said.

'We will be a main threat next season I am sure about that, while Cardiff could be too if their new stadium project starts to get off the ground.'